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The Cage (episode)
While investigating an 18-year-old distress call, Captain Pike is captured and tested by beings who can project powerfully realistic illusions. Summary on the bridge.]] The [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] receives an old radio distress signal from planet Talos IV. A landing party led by Captain Pike discovers survivors from the crashed [[SS Columbia|SS Columbia]], which was on a scientific expedition for the American Continent Institute. Among the survivors is a beautiful woman called Vina. Distracted by the woman, Pike is captured by the Talosians and taken to an underground prison. It is revealed that the crash-site and the survivors, Vina excepted, were all powerful mental illusions made by the Talosians to trap the Enterprise and Captain Pike. The Talosians have severely weakened because they haved used their mental powers for so long. They want Captain Pike and Vina as breeding stock for a new, stronger race to repopulate the barren planet surface, which was ravaged by nuclear warfare. enjoy an illusory picnic outside Mojavé.]] They try several illusions on Pike to make him interested in Vina, all based on Pike's memories. These include an unfortunate mission to Rigel VII and a pleasant picnic outside Pike's hometown of Mojavé. When these illusions don't work, the Talosians also capture Number One and Yeoman Colt to give Pike a choice of women. .]] Pike discovers that strong primal emotions cancel out the Talosian mental powers. He uses this knowledge to take a weapon from one of the Talosians, and escapes with his crew to the surface. There, the Talosians confront Pike with their demands. Pike refuses to cooperate, but Vina (despite her attraction to Pike) decides to stay on the planet, because underneath the Talosian illusions, she is badly deformed from the crash of the Columbia. The Talosians agree to take care of Vina and release the other crew. Continuation Afterwards, the Federation imposed General Order 7 on the Talos system, preventing anyone from ever approaching the planet again under penalty of death. (TOS:"The Menagerie"). :Several non-canon stories in comics and novels have chronicled continuations of this story: *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: Issue *Star Trek Annual (DC volume 1) *Pocket TOS: "Legacy" Background * This was the first ever episode of Star Trek produced. NBC rejected the pilot but made the extraordinary move to order a second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before"). Almost all footage of this episode was later reused in "The Menagerie Part I" and "Part II." * The first filmed scene from "The Cage" (and of Star Trek) -- the cut with Dr. Boyce and Captain Pike sharing a martini -- was filmed on Friday, November 27th, 1964. * Leonard Mudie, who has one line of dialogue as one of the Columbia survivors, was a veteran of dozens of films dating back to the 1930s. He was 85 when this sequence was filmed, and he died the next year. He is the oldest actor ever to appear on the original "Star Trek." * In one brief part of the first transporation sequence, the transporter chief's assistant is wearing glasses. Actually, it appears to be a totally different man between the two parts of this scene. * The Talosian seen down the corridor as Pike looks at all the imprisoned creatures was a midget. This gave the appearance of great length to what was actually a short, forced-perspective hallway. * Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Majel Barrett (Number One) are the only actors to appear in both this episode and the final episode "Turnabout Intruder". Links and References Main Cast as young Lt. Spock.]] *Jeffrey Hunter as Christopher Pike *Leonard Nimoy as Spock *M. Leigh Hudec as Number One *John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce *Peter Duryea as José Tyler *Laurel Goodwin as J.M. Colt Guest Stars *Susan Oliver as Vina *Meg Wyllie as The Keeper *Jon Lormer as Dr. Theodore Haskins *Clegg Hoyt as Pitcairn *Malachi Throne as The Keeper's voice *Mike Dugan as The Kaylar *Georgia Schmidt as 1st Talosian *Robert C. Johnson as 1st Talosian's voice *Serena Sande as 2nd Talosian *Barker as another Talosian *Adam Roarke as Garrison *Leonard Mudie as a Columbia survivor #2 *Anthony Jochim as a Columbia survivor #3 *Ed Madden as the Enterprise geologist *Robert Phillips as the space officer on Orion colony *Joseph Mell as the trader on Orion colony *Janos Prohaska as the Anthropoid Ape/Humanoid Bird *Bob Herron as Pike's stunt double *Frank da Vinci as Stunt double *Penny Romans did the choreography for Susan Oliver's dance. References American Continent Institute; class M; ''Columbia'', SS; hyperdrive; laser; laser weapons; Mojavé; nitrogen; nuclear weapons; Orion; Orion slavegirl; Orion colony; oxygen; radio; radio-interference distress call; Rigel; Rigel VII; Talos star group; Talos IV; Talosians; Tango; time barrier; time warp factor; President of the United States; Vega; Vega colony; warp drive; yeoman. Cage, Thede:Der Käfig